


sometimes you can go home again

by philindas



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Philinda Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7947526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/philindas/pseuds/philindas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’re cordially invited to Clearwater Heights High School 35th Class Reunion. Please RSVP with Cindy Reynolds by April 25th. We’re excited to see you Class of ’81!</p>
<p>(or, Melinda goes back to high school for a night, and Phil is all too ready to play the role of her fake husband in order to catch whichever of her classmates is hiding Inhuman powers.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	sometimes you can go home again

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for Philinda Undercover: The Reunion Mission! It's super late but I'm in the process of switching jobs and rl has just been super stressful, so I apologize!

“I hate this,” Melinda said for the fifth time as they drove towards her old high school. As soon as the new Director had learned that talk of a new Inhuman was happening in Melinda’s hometown, and that she’d recently been invited to attend her high school reunion, he’d sent them on an undercover mission to figure out what was going on.

“So I’ve gathered,” Phil replied, amused, as he pulled into the high school parking lot. The whole place was decked out in school spirit, and Melinda groaned again, sinking further down into her seat. “It’s not going to be that bad.”

“I haven’t seen these people since I was 20 years old, Phil,” she replied, whining a little. “And now I have to pretend to be a happily married housewife that hasn’t been a part of a secret federal agency for the last thirty years of my life. It’s hard when it’s not strictly undercover but it’s lying about your whole life, Phil. These people knew me before.”

“Lin, I don’t think anyone that knew you would mistake you for having been a housewife,” Phil tells her, a hint of a smile on his lips, and she rolls her eyes, fighting off a smirk of her own. “Change our cover a little. Fit it to how you think you would have lived the last three decades without SHIELD.”

“Well, we still met in college. You were studying history and education, I was studying…language. A translator, maybe? I would have wanted to see the world still,” she starts, talking mostly to herself as Phil watches, parking the car and turning to face her. “We traveled. Everywhere. Never stayed in a place more than a year- you taught at the local schools, dazzling all the kids because that’s just what you do. We thought about kids, but we moved too often to really settle down enough for it.”

“See? No ordinary housewife in sight,” Phil murmurs softly, pulling her from her thoughts and drawing a genuine smile from her as she leans over, linking their fingers. “Come on- we’ve got an Inhuman to find.”

They’re one of the last to arrive- as they head towards the gym, following the glitter-painted signs, the sounds of music, chatter, and the squeak of shoes against the waxed gym floor filter through the air, and Melinda shudders. Phil squeezes her hand, letting her lean into him as they headed for the name badge table. Sitting behind it was a tall blonde woman, smile plastered on her face, and he felt Melinda tense but a little as they approached.

“Hey there!” her voice is high-pitched and bubbly, and Phil can already tell she’d been a cheerleader. “My goodness is that you Melinda?”

“The one and only,” she replies, giving the woman a believably- genuine smile as she accepts the badge she’s handed. “How are you, Sandy?”

“I’m great! Taylor- you remember Taylor Barclay, right?- well, Andy and I got married when we graduated from Penn State, we’ve got three little boys now. Well, they’re not so little anymore, I guess!” Sandy laughs, a shrill kind of a noise, and Melinda’s grip on him tightens. “And you? Who’s this dashing man on your arm?”

“This is my husband Phil,” Melinda answers, casting a look up at Phil, smile turning more genuine when she met his gaze. “He’s a history professor at Georgetown, we moved back to the States about five years ago. We were moving around a lot for my translator job for a while, but we decided it was time to come home after we saw the world.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Phil. You look wonderful Melinda,” Sandy replies, handing Phil his badge and looking vaguely jealous as Phil helps Melinda pin hers on, his touch soft.

The gym is decorated gaudily, streamers and confetti and strobe lights everywhere, and Melinda already has a headache as they head for Table Ten, where Sandy had told them they were seated. There were two couples already seated, and Melinda straightened her spine as they sat down.

“Oh my god, Melinda?” one of the woman at the table asked, eyes wide, and Melinda’s own eyes widened before an actual smile overtook her face.

“Nina, it’s been years,” she says; she even accepts the woman’s hug as she stands to greet her, surprising Phil.

“Years? It’s been decades, Mel,” the woman- Nina- replies with a raised eyebrow. She’s shorter than Melinda, dark hair spiked with silver and up in a bun, glasses perched on her nose and lips stained red. “Where did you disappear to? You went away to school and dropped off the face of the earth.”

“That’d be my fault,” Phil interjects, and Nina looks at him, raising an eyebrow even higher in interest as she looks between him and Melinda.

“This is my husband, Phil,” Melinda tells Nina, looking at Phil fondly. “We met in college. And he’s followed me around the world for the last three decades. Phil, this is Nina. We ran the Culture Club together in high school.”

“By ran she means we were the only members, being the only Asians in Clearwater,” she corrects, amusement in her tone.

“And me!” the man at the table interjects, amused annoyance on his face, and Nina rolls her eyes.

“And Ben,” she adds, shaking her head. “I’m not surprised Sandy put us all at the same table. That woman’s been a racist since before she was born.”

“Hush, Nina. You know how tough things have been since Taylor’s disappearance,” the woman on Nina’s other side replied; Nina sighed, shrugging as she sat and took the woman’s hand.

“Mel, this is my wife Ellie,” Nina introduced; as they shook hands she and Phil took their seats.

“Taylor Barclay disappeared?” Melinda asked, exchanging a discreet look with Phil. Could Taylor be the Inhuman they were looking for?

Ellie nodded, tucking some of her unruly red hair behind her ear. “About two months ago. Just straight up disappeared on his way to work. Sandy’s been a mess- they have three boys, one of them is only eight, you know.”

“What did Taylor do?” Phil asked, voice a perfect blend of quiet concern and soft encouragement.

“He owned the gym in town- he’d started bodybuilding about a year ago. I swear that man owned stock in the fish oil business, swore up and down it was helping him stay healthy enough to body build at his age,” Nina replied, snorting quietly as she shook her head, and Melinda’s nails dug into Phil’s thigh at the mention of fish oil. It seemed Taylor _was_ their Inhuman causing trouble in Pennsylvania.

A softer song came through the speakers, and Ellie tugged on Nina until the woman relented, letting her wife drag her onto the dance floor. Ben and his wife followed soon after, and Phil leaned in closer until he could murmur in Melinda’s ear.

“Can I have this dance, wife?” he asked, and Melinda rolled her eyes, letting him pull her to her feet and guiding her onto the floor. “Nina seems nice.”

“She was my best friend in high school,” Melinda answered absently, head pillowed on his shoulder as they swayed to the soft, jazzy tune. “Then SHIELD happened and I lost touch with the people in my old life.”

Phil remained silent, just holding her a little tighter.

“At least I had you,” she continued after a moment, voice barely audible in his ear. “She was my best friend when I was a kid, but you’ve been my best friend for the last thirty years, Phil.”

“And you’re mine,” he replied, pulling back until he could look into her eyes, his thumb soft against her cheek. “Always, Lin.”

She smiled, small but bright, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek. They still had an Inhuman to find and try to help, and Daisy was still on the run and constantly on their minds, but for now it was enough to twirl her around the dance floor and pretend for a little longer. They deserved it.


End file.
